good morning, i'm willie geist and this is "way too early." thele show that pops champagne whenever. i'm glad you're up with us watching on msnbc or listening live on siriusxm radio. do what woodward and bernstein do, text it to 622639. we'll read the best responses later in the show. the next 30 minutes will be your cram session for this wednesday, september 22nd. a lot going on today including christine o'donnell declaring an end to her relationship with the national media. plus, jon stewart sits down and opens up about his tortured life as a crying on the inside kind of clown. actually just told a bunch of jokes and promoted his books. highlights in a minute.

first to the news. live at 5:30 a.m. here at 30 rock in new york city. this morning, details are out on the much anticipated new book by journalist bob woodward which offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the obama administration's decision to increase troops in afghanistan. the book called "obama's wars" paints a picture of top advisers deeply divided over the war in afghanistan, which critical -- vice president joe biden and richard holbrooke doubt the president's strategy there. according to secret meeting notes and documented cited president obama repeatedly pressed top military advisers for a way out of afghanistan last year. when they only offered options that required adding significantly more troops the president crafted his own strategy that called for a escalation of 30,000 troops in the short term after the president informed the military of his decision, there were still conflicts. the president is quoted in the book as telling the chairman of

the joint chiefs of staffs admiral mike mullen then head of u.s. central command, david petraeus and defense secretary robert gates "in 2010 we will not be having a conversation about how to do more. we're not going to be having a conversation about how to change the mission unless we're talking about how to draw down faster than anticipated in 2011" according to woodward's book and took the president's decision as a personal rejection of his counterinsurgency plan quoting the general as saying "you have to recognize also that i don't think you win this war. this is the kind of fight we're in for the rest of our lives and probably our kids' lives." the book also reveals intense in-fighting, for example, vice president biden reportedly calling richard holbrooke "the most egotistical bastard i've ever met." quoted it as a disaster if

donilon became national security adviser and david axelrod as a complete spin doctor and discloses that u.s. intelligence reports, hamid karzai was diagnosed as manic depressive. karl eikenberry talks about him saying "he's on his meds, he's off his meds." bob woodward will be a guess on "morning joe" next wednesday. "the new york times" got its hands on a copy. that's where a lot of this is coming from. more on the book and a full discussion of what it means on "morning joe" a senate vote on repealing gays serving openly in the military will have to wait until after the midterm elections. after the measure failed to advance yesterday. republicans with the aid of two arkansas democrats voted unanimously against taking up the bill calling it a political ploy used to mobilize special interest voters ahead of the

elections. shortly after the vote, senator john mccain had a testy exchange with reporters where he challenged assertions that the military actively seeks to identify gay and lesbian service members. >> you do not go out to seek to find out someone's -- >> but, senator -- >> that is the fact. that is the fact. i know the military very well. and i know what's being done and what is being done is that they're not seeking out people who are gay and i don't care what you say. i know it's a fact. >> that's not what i say. >> i don't care what you say and i don't care what others say. i've soon it in action. i have seen it in action. i know the military very well. so they're not telling you the truth. >> the republican filibuster came on a broad defense bill that included within it a repeal of don't ask, don't tell and they blocked that bill. meanwhile, former president bill clinton explained yesterday when he signed don't ask, don't tell into law in 1993, the measure

was somewhat misrepresented to him by his chairman of the joint chiefs of staff colin powell. >> don't ask, don't tell, do you ever regret it as a policy? >> oh, yeah, but keep in mind, i didn't choose this policy. when colin powell sold me on don't ask, don't tell, here is what he said it would be. gay service members would never get in trouble for going to gay bar, marching in gay rights parades as long as they weren't in uniform. that was what they were promised. that's a very different don't ask, don't tell than we got. >> wow, president clinton saying colin powell misled him on don't ask, don't tell. elsewhere, delaware senate candidate christine o'donnell is swearing off interviews she says with the national media. o'donnell was on fox last night to say she's taking the advice of former alaska governor sarah palin. she'll keep her focus on the state of delaware and its voters now for the six weeks left before election day. >> it's off the table because that's not going to help me get

votes. i'm not going to do any more national media because this is my focus, delaware is my focus and the local media is my focus and it's frustrating because i've let the local media know they're my priority but our phones are ringing off the hook that they can't get to me so this -- it's actually become an interference with the campaign. >> so she's done with the national media. that comes against the backdrop of a new fox poll that shows her 15 points behind her democratic rival chris coons. the margin right now, 54/39 with 6 weeks to go till election day larry summers, president obama's top economic adviser is stepping down at the end of the year. the white house said yesterday that summers will be returning to his position as a professor at harvard university. in a statement, the president says he is grateful for summers' service during what he calls a time of great peril for the country. summers is now the third out of four key economic advisers to leave the obama administration

just this year. this comes after the departure of former budget director peter orszag and of christina romer, the former chair of economic advisers. now only tim geithner remains in place from that original core. meanwhile, it's the administration looking for ways to jump-start the economy and a new reuters poll shows 68% of americans believes lowering taxes will create jobs in the country and 68% say reducing the deficit will help. president obama heads to new york this afternoon to speak at a development summit at the united nations. tomorrow he'll speak to the general assembly where administration officials say he'll walk a fine line on iran in a broad-based foreign policy speech. yesterday, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad warned an attack on his country's nuclear facilities would spark a war that would "know no limits" and also weighed in on capitalism

saying it's on the verge of death and that it's time for a new economic system and he is just getting going. he speaks at the general assembly tomorrow. eight city officials of the blue collar suburb of bell, california, are scheduled to be arraigned in court today after being arrested yesterday. the mayor, the ex-city manager and six current and former officials were charged with misappropriating more than $5.5 million in public funds and paying themselves huge salaries. remember this story. resident as cross the city yesterday honked their horns, burst into cheers and staged celebrations when they heard the news. the district attorney called it a case of corruption on steroids. let's take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business. cnbc's anna edwards is with us. >> good to see you, willie. the big story what the fomc had

had to say about the state of the economy yesterday. they didn't change interest rates, of course, that was expected and pretty low already. but they did give us an update on how they see things progressing for the u.s. economy including being a little bit more worried about the path of inflation or more specifically deflation falling prices into the future. that's got the markets assuming that we're going to see more quantitative easing so more bond buying by the federal reserve, increasing the size of their balance sheet, trying to push up prices by doing that. the markets are now factoring in we will see some kind of it but even ben bernanke has in the past raised concerns about whether this will work and he's been pretty open about the fact that we're kind of in unchartered territory for central banks and doesn't know what kind of impact this is going to have on the economy. is it going to fulfill two key mandates the fed has both price stability and job creation. elsewhere at the fed there are other -- there are further disagreements about this topic. some in the fomc are known to

believe that we shouldn't be embarking on any more quantitative easing. he think this should only be done if there's really a great deal of deflation in the economy. so this is certainly something we'll continue to watch as we digest that news on the financial markets, we are expecting a slightly weaker start to trades on wall street this morning. willie, back to you. >> an father, thanks so much. the fed doing what it can. rates are about as low as they can go. still ahead on "way too early," still partying in the twin cities right now after the hometown twins become the first team into the playoffs. is minnesota sliding under the radar here as the most dangerous team in baseball while the yankees and rays grab all the attention? highlights of all the games just ahead plus, decision 2010. which candidate did the american people eliminate last night from "dancing with the stars"? there's bristol palin, is she headed back to wasilla? that and weather when "way too early" comes back.

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president obama: yeah, i took a trip to elkhart, indiana, today. elkhart's a place that has lost jobs faster i took a trip to elkhart, indiana today. it's lost jobs faster than it's lost jobs faster than anywhere else in america. that tell people where to find food banks, even as the food banks don't have enough to meet the demand. what i wouldn't do for a do-over. [ female announcer ] neutrogena® clinical skincare helps restore collagen depleted skin to undo the look of a year's worth of skin aging in just 4 weeks. clinical skincare. neutrogena®.

5:44 in the morning. a beautiful picture of the jefferson memorial in washington, d.c. let's get a check on weather from nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> are we still on for our gym, tan laundry thing? >> yeah, until it drops below 70 we're doing that every day. >> can't wait y. you have to explain. i'm trying to catch up. let's talk about the forecast today. it's going to be hot in some areas. the last day of summer certainly will feel like it and the heat is spreading to the east. if you were up in new england yesterday morning where it was

chilly, not today. completely different so you won't be in the 40s but in the 60s in hartford. pretty clear out there but in buffalo showers heading your way and utica and syracuse and rochester you'll probably need your umbrellumbrella. everybody else dot not. yesterday in the low 40s. get an idea it's much warmer. look at the forecast. mid-80s in most locations, 88 in philly, in d.c. we should be around 91. i think d.c. will see three days in a row of 90-degree heat so once again you'll turn the air conditioner back on just when you thought you were finally done. the rest of the country, the big warm-up continues out there. especially in areas around dallas to atlanta or orlando, this has been a very hot week and today it will continue. the one area that cools off is arizona. today we could get rain at about 91 so we actually are going to have a tropical depression in the bay of california. it's going to send some of that moisture to phoenix of all places. could have flash flooding the next two days. >> 91 in washington today. >> going to be 94 it looks like

thursday or friday. >> wow, late september heat. all right, bill. thanks so much. turn to sports now and start with the heated pennant race. yankees hoping to pad their slim lead over the rays there, bottom of the first, nick swisher, getting things going right out of the box. solo shot to right field in the first inning, 27th home run of the season. 1-0, yankees, same inning, lance berkman breaks this thing open, two-run double scores rodriguez and posada part of a five-run first inning and put it away in the seventh inning. cano kind of floats one here into left field. turns into -- let's call it a lame two-run double. but a two-run double nevertheless and yankees win, 8-3. up 2 1/2 games on tampa. phil hughes picks up his 17th win. they do it again tonight at yankee stadium the twins looking to clinch

a spot in the postseason. hosting the indians, a good team to do it against. jim thome, a solo home run and tied at 4, the twins' spann part of a four-run rally. let's take it to the ninth inning now. minnesota's matt capps, drama. pathos, strikeout to end the game, 6-4 they win and they stuck around to watch the sox lose to the a's so they clinch the title. first season at the new target field and, again, everybody is watching the yankees and rays. rays, twins could be the team to beat in the national league phillies started roy halladay going for his 20th win of the season and did it pretty easily. here striking out nate mcclauth.

three-run home run and phillies win 5-3 and hall day becomes the first philly, 20-game winner since steve carlton did it in 1982 and phillies extend their lead over the braves to five games and won nine straight games, the phillies are on fire. staying in philadelphia for some nfl news, the eagles say michael vick will be the starter this sunday against jacksonville. this despite the return of kevin kolb who had the job to start the season before suffering a concussion in week one. coach andy reid said kolb was their main guy and explained why he changed his mind. >> i think his play is even exceeded expectation over the last two weeks, again, this is more about michael vick and his accelerated play. he is possibly the highest quarterback in the national

football league at this time and deserves an opportunity to play. >> meanwhile, new york jets receiver braylon edwards arrested for dui early yesterday morning will suit up for the sunday night game against the dolphins. he was arraigned at a manhattan court yesterday. police said his blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit. the team says edwards will play but will not start the game. under nfl rules he cannot be suspended for his first offense of driving under the influence. the new york tabloids having fun with in this morning. extra pint. and a little less subtle from "the daily news." "sit happens." braylon edwards sitting on the bench coming up on "morning joe," president obama's foreign policy team at war over afghanistan. with some very high-level officials saying the president's strategy there just can't work.

should be an interesting day at the white house plus, jon stewart shows up on oprah with carry-on luggage. hmm. where was he headed and what did he have to say about glenn beck's personal baggage? we'll gather around the water cooler and drink from coon-shaped paper cups when "way too early" comes right back. wall street is getting back on its feet. but the financial landscape is still full of uncertainty. in times like these, you need an experienced partner to look out for you. heads up! and after 300 years we have gotten pretty good at that.

teachers could be in for a pay boost if the obama administration has its way as the government urges states to institute merit pay as part of its plan to reform the country's schools but a new study says that plan doesn't quite add up. want to sound part today? tell your friends a three-year study at the vanderbilt university found that bonuses for school teachers do not raise student test scores. 300 nashville teachers were offered bonuses of up to $15,000 but the study showed there were no more successful at boosting achievement than those teachers who did not receive the money. if vanderbilt told you it's true, it is. we'll talk about issues like this as nbc launches a week-long event, education nation. representatives of business, politic, technology will join teachers, parents and students in a conversation about how to improve education in america. "way too early" and "morning joe" will broadcast live from

rockefeller plaza with focus on education coming up on monday. all right. enough of the real news. let's huddle up around the water cooler and talk about the verdict handed down last night on "dancing with the stars." bristol palin lives to see another day but even the voters of "baywatch" nation could not save him from himself. sorry to report just like that he was gone. his scores tied him for last place after dancing on monday with margaret cho and the situation from "jersey shore." last night nobody could save this man. one judge saying his cha-cha was a potpourri of insanity disguised as dance but as always the hawk handled things with class. >> the viewers have spoken, david and kym, kyle and lacey, the couple with the combined overall total leaving right now

is david and kym. >> oh. >> see, he handles it with a big smile. bristol palin says she's excited and hopes her mom will be in the audience. jon stewart promoting his new book "earth" and showed up with some carry-on luggage. let's see what he was up to. >> what's the luggage all about? where are you going? >> you tell me. where are we all going? [ applause ] i'm ready for anything. >> you are going to -- >> i have a bathing suit in here. i have winter clothes. i have a revolutionary war hat in case you announce we're going

back in time. i don't -- this is oprah. she can do whatever she wants. >> no such luck for jon stewart. oprah threw up a bunch of pictures rapid-fire word association and threw up a shot of glenn beck. here's what jon said. >> that's glenn beck. >> yeah. >> yeah, he's my moneymaker. you know what i call him? >> what. >> a kid's college fund. >> glenn beck's making a lot of people a lot of money. still ahead on "way too early," why are you awake? your disparaging texts and e-mails are next and "morning joe" now just moments away. the most powerful half-ton crew in america has a powertrain backed for 100,000 miles. chevy silverado half-ton a consumers digest best buy and the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. now get 0% apr for 72 months on 2010 silverado half-ton models

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precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. number one story on msnbc.com, glad to see you're focused on the right thing. you know the story. i didn't until three seconds ago. a welsh teenager was crowned united states perfect teen, apparently some of the american stage moms are mad that a foreign contestant won the perfect teen pageant or something. who knows? alex, what are they saying? >> hey,